1. CONCERNING WOMENS ACCESS TO LANDTHE CASES OF UGANDA AND KENYA

2. 2Authors:Hellen Kamiri and Jane NyokabiWomen Initiative (GMWI) / GROOTS, KenyaSusan MainaYoung Widows Advancement Programme, YWAP, KenyaJacqueline Akello and Namubiri RestyUganda Rural Development Training Program, URDT, UgandaMino RamarosonSolidarit des Intervenants sur le Foncier, SIF, MadagascarFacilitator and editor:Karim DerrahiCONCERNING WOMENS ACCESS TO LANDTHE CASES OF UGANDA AND KENYA 3. 3INDEX1. Introduction 42. Background 43. Strategies to promote womens access to land 54. Principal learning provided by the Route 105. New strategies adopted after the Route 106. Factors that foster innovations 117. Main lessons learnt 118. Challenges of the new framework 129. First testimony: Women iniciative, GatunduMwirutiri (GMWI) 12Groots-Kenya, by Hellen Kamiri and Jane Nyokabi10. Second Testimony The Young widows organization, by Susan Maina 1711. Third Testimony: Achievements of the Uganda 20Kenya learning Route: the case of the Malgache teamby Mino Ramaroson12. Fourth Testimony: Exchange of experiences about the participation in the learning 24Route by Jacqueline Akello and NamubiruResty 4. 4The following study is part of a wider research about the Learning Routes developed by PROCASURin Latin America, Africa and Asia. This investigation has been sponsored by IFAD and IDRC, inthe context of the Program Scaling Up Rural Innovations. It aims to understand the impact ofthe Learning Routes in the development and diffusion of rural innovations in organizations andinstitutions involved in these projects.The objective of this case study was to know the impacts of the Learning Route Action-researchproject and its effects in the land access policies. The cases of Uganda and Kenya, held inyear 2010. An adaptation of the methodology that had been applied to study other Routes wasused. The first change was to cover a set of experiences, in order to have a more comprehensivevision of the effects of the Route. The second change, was giving a more central role to theformer Routers, gathering their testimonies about the experience, the learning achieved, andthe adaptation and implementation of such learning to their contexts. Besides, they were askedabout the changes they had experienced at a personal level as well as those experienced in theorganizations, communities and societies they belong to.As a result of it four histories of women from Kenya, Uganda, and Madagascar are presented here.They put emphasis in what their protagonists estimated significant, using their own languageand their expressions. The histories have been scarcely intervened to preserve the value of theirtestimonies and originality.The protagonists are Hellen Kamiri and Jane Nyokabi from the Gatundu Mwirutiri Women Iniciative(GMWI) / GROOTS , and SusanMaina from the Young Widows Advancement Programme, YWAP,both from Kenya; Jacqueline Akello and Namubiri Resty from the Uganda Rural DevelopmentTraining Programme, URDT, de Uganda and Mino Ramaroson, from Solidarit des Intervenantssur le Foncier, SIF, Madagascar.In a second phase of the study, four organizations that were in this Route were invited toa bi-national workshop, with the attendance of ten women. They gave testimonies abouttheir participation in the Route, reflecting together about the innovation processes that wereimplemented in their organizations and communities after their return. They described theirinvolvement in the fight for land access that women were giving there. These organizationswere Uganda Rural Development Training Program (URDT) and AHURICA-FIDAH from Uganda;GAMWI (Groots-K) and Young Widows Advancement Program (YWAP) both from Kenya.As a result of this workshop, an interesting set of discussions emerged, which is presentedbelow. Some of them were collected by Karim Derrahi to introduce the stories presented in thisdocument.1. INTRODUCTION2. BACKGROUNDIn rural areas having property of land or not having it is identified as one of the main factorsinfluencing the poverty situation. It can be added that there is a very unequal access to thisasset between men and women, with the latter having less access, what makes their situation ofprecariousness worse. In Africa, one reason of this inequality is that many women are expelledout from their lands by their in-law relatives when their husbands pass away, situation that has avery negative impact in the development of the rural communities. 5. 53. STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE WOMENS ACCESS TO LAND 21 ILC (International Land Coalition).2 Notes on workshop on the situation Paths to Learning Post held in Mbale, Uganda, on 24 and 25 March3 Empowered, in the original text.3.1 Awareness of participants about psychological blocks that prevent women to act onbehalf their land rights.One of the main lessons the participants gained during the Learning Route was identifying theinformation gap as a major obstacle to change. Indeed, due to the lack of information only fewwomen in rural areas are aware of their land rights. As one participant explains: many womenhave never seen a title of ownership. Although some women are willing to act, they often lack ofskills to carry on with the battle. In addition, cultural practices lead many women to consider theland property issue as male matter.The participants have also realized that they should first focus on the awareness of thecommunities, fighting against the lack of information about womens rights to land. Self-confidenceif negatively affected by ignorance and these women require self-confidence in orderto claim their rights. The participants have pointed out that courage is particularly important tosucceed in their gender equality demands in a culture dominated by men.From this point of view, the workshop showed that the knowledge gained in the Learning Routeempowered3 the participants and enabled them to strengthen their (self ) confidence. However,they realized that in order to mobilize their communities, they should become role models withinthem.Jane Nyokaby and Phoebe Saga illustrate very well the intellectual and human path taken afterthe Route. They are two successful participants that have demanded their land rights to their in-laws.They truly have become positive role models in their communities, which is an importantfactor to mobilize community members. See figure 1 and 2.Given this situation, PROCASUR and the International Land Coalition1, developed in year 2010 alearning Route, with the topic The Action-Research project and its effects on the policies ofland access, the cases of Uganda and Kenya. The 24 participants were invited to learn aboutemblematic cases and think together about the main obstacles and opportunities to land access,emphasizing in the identification of the most effective strategies, in different contexts, to improvethe certainty of the women rights to land.Two years after the Learning Route the access to natural resources, and especially to land, stillremains in an unequal situation. Despite of women rights in this sense being widely recognized,in practice they continue facing big obstacles to enjoy them. 6. 6Case 1Jane asserts the right to her inheritance by raising her case before the justice of hercountry.Jane is a widow and mother of 5 children. After the death of her husband, her in-lawsgave her an acre of land in Gatundu. The following year, in 1997, Jane began to performthe administrative boundaries to obtain the title to her name. Her brother-in-law stronglyopposed, arguing that women can not inherit land and that if she pursue in this, sheshould gave the title to one of her sons. Jane refused, as she heard stories of familydisputes due to children who refused to divide the land with their siblings. Since 1996 shehad failed to win her case, and therefore she had not received her share of the inheritance.However, the human and intellectual enrichment that she acquired during the route,reassure her convictions and Jane became, in her words, more aggressive in her demands.Indeed, discovering the struggle the other participants experienced (they came from sixdifferent countries) in addition to all the specific knowledge acquired (on land rights),reassured her conviction that their fight was fair because equality and communitydevelopment was jeopardized.So Jane returned from the Route more convinced than ever to resume the dialogue withher brother in law, in order to obtain the title to her husbands acre of land. However, thedialogue failed and Jane took courage to take their dispute to court, with the supportof their local leader. Justice acknowledged her right to inherit her husbands land andthere is an on going procedure to bring the title to her name. Jane has become a true rolemodel for women in her community, as they see that change is possible.Case 2Phoebe asserts her right to inheritance by restoring dialogue with her in-laws.Phoebe Saga is a widow and mother of two children. She is an active member of theYoung Widows Advancement Programme based in Kenya. When her husband passedaway in 2000, Phoebe decided to claim for her husbands plot of land in Hom Bay to hisbrother-in-law. He categorically refused, explaining that it should be disinherited becausea woman could not own land. Faced with this refusal, Phoebe decided to quit becauseshe had neither the confidence nor the knowledge to enforce her rights. She was forcedto return to live in Nairobi, where she could hardly meet her needs with a laundress job.In 2010, when she participated in the Route she experienced a change in her life. All theinformation acquired gave her the knowledge and also the courage, to face her in-lawsagain, ten years later. After the Route she started a new dialogue with his brother-in-lawto convince him to accept her entitlement and bring the title to her name.After a year of negotiations, she managed to convince them and get an agreement. AsPhoebe said, her husbands family was afraid of her determination and realized that sheknew what she was doing by considering her improved knowledge of her land rights. 7. 7Today Phoebe left the area to live in Homa Bay where she cultivates her land and startedbuilding a house for her family. This journey was a very enriching experience that enabledher to regain self confidence. She is very proud to have become a role model for othermembers of her community. As she explains, she applied one of the lessons of the Route:the dialogue is a key component in achieving women land rights.Hence, Jane and Phoebe have been empowered by participating in the Route. They have becomemore activists but always favoring dialogue, which in their view, is an essential component in everystrategy that redefines the inequalities between man-woman, whatever the cultural context.Overcoming their personal struggles (figures 1 and 2) they have gained credibility and havebecome role models for women in their communities. However, they know that the mobilizationof their communities on the land property issue, can not be done without a strategic dialogue.3.2 Promote a strategic dialogue at the local level, sensitizing local leaders and involvingmore women in decision-making committees at the local level.Public meetings organized by the CBO-YWAP4 to strengthen dialogue, with the help of paralegalsamong community members.At the end of the process the participants have understood that sharing information withmembers of the community is the best way to empower them, so they can start a dynamic ofchange. They have initiated a dialogue at different levels in order to change mindsets:Case 3 Dialogue within the community: the example of CBO-YWAPAccording to the participants, the Watch Dog Group initiative in Gatundu visited duringthe route was a very adequate way to promote horizontal dialogue5 integrating membersin community activities. The CBO-YWAP participants found the idea very interesting andhave partially replicated this in their constituencies, as Embakasi in Kenya, where theytrained 30 paralegals during 3 weeks. At the end of the training, each one received adiploma as official paralegals recognized by the State. The mission of these paralegalsis to mobilize community members, giving them information about their rights. Ifrequired, they also have a role as Whistles Blowers to the community. The benefit of thistransmission system is that reinforce the local community dialogue, because paralegalsare settled locally, allowing information to move down, closer to the community members.Moreover, CBO- YWAP participants agree in regard to the social utility of their actions.They have decided to extend the scope of their intervention beyond Kayole (Nairobi) tocover the Embakasi constituency and rural areas, where traditional unfair practices aremore settled. This action is under development. As explained by Susan Maina, a memberof CBO-YWAP, the route has flattered them and strengthened their conviction about thesocial utility of their actions.After the route, eight awareness workshops have been held in Embakasi constituency(Njiru, Dandora, Mukuru slums, Kaole and Soweto) with paralegals help (Figure 3)Similarly, in order to strengthen the community, the CBO- GAMWI Gutundu in Kenyahas organized community meetings to spread information obtained in the Route indifferent regions in Kenya (Laikipte / Kitui / Mathare Slum in Nairobi) where they have alsoreplicated Women Property Program originated in Gutundu.4 CBO: Community Based Organization - YWAP: Young Widow Advancement Programme5 Exchange among members of a community. 8. 8Include more women in decision-making positions: the example of CBO-GAMWIThe participants have realized due to their experience on the Route, that while womensempowerment and their mobilization are required to change the situation, it is notenough. Indeed, during the Route they noted that besides identifying and mobilizing keylocal leaders, who are already employed, women need to assume positions of power todrive a real momentum for change, in favor of gender equality.Resolved in their learning, Jane Nyokabyn and Hellen Kamiri have implemented a realstrategy of lobbying to educate their local male leaders about womens access to land.They have held five public meetings where they invited strategic local leaders, officialsfrom the Ministry of Health, etc. After these meetings our organization has gainedcredibility in front of these leaders, but also in front of the whole community.Beyond awareness of local leaders on this issue, they have also developed a lobbyingstrategy to promote more women to positions of influence. Therefore, Jane and Hellen,a few months after the route, have been successful in winning a place in several decisioncommittees, enabling them to sensitize policy makers on the status of women. As theyexplain, this has been possible because the route increased their credibility.Case 4Hellen Kamiri is married and has three children. She is responsible for CBO-GAMWIactivities in Gutundu. After the route she has been selected as a member of the EconomicDevelopment Committee Gutundu in Kenya, which meets once a quarter. In thisconstituency, she is the first woman selected as a member of that Committee.Her nomination, as Hellen explains, happened after attending several meetings of WDGwhere many local leaders were invited. The dialogue allowed these leaders to discover thework that the CBO had done for the community. Local leaders realized that Hellen couldbe useful within the Development Committee.While this position is an opportunity to assert the right of women to development Hellenis aware that this is not enough and that she must continue with her persuasion efforts,so that more women access to positions of responsibility. Thus, after her nominationshe has continued to sensitize local male leaders on objective 3, from the MillenniumDevelopment Goals: to promote gender equality and womens empowerment.After the route, Hellen is very proud that 45 women of different WDG groups havesucceeded in being selected in several local committees to defend the economic andsocial rights of women. In the constituency of Gutundu they have launched a campaignpro-women. Hellen says it was inspired by the experiences of the Uganda participantsfrom the Route.The next goal is to choose the female candidate for the CBO general elections to be heldin March 2013. 9. 93.3 Documenting actions to better support the dialogue with the community and supporters.During the route many of the participants realized that they could not share much of theiractivities, as very few, if any, were documented. And the oral transmission has many limitations.As one participant noted, the interest of a trip like this, is to share local experiences. Thus, forSusan Maina from CBO-YWAP The Route was like a mirror that has shown the weaknesses that needto be improve in their own organizationsSince their return, Jane and Hellen from CBO-GAMWI decided to start a three-week training tolearn how to file, use the Internet, create a blog, etc. Today they have created a small informationcenter for their community and are looking to expand and also create an information center foryoung people. After intense lobbying, they received a donation of land and a container from thedistrict leader. Moreover, they have created a blog to report their actions. (Figure 5)Case 5The long-term challenge: encourage the empowerment of women, developing theirindividual planning capacity.During the Route, the participants have realized that financial instability experienced bywomen, is a real obstacle to land property. It is not enough to ensure the acquisition ofplots, but also provide women with greater economic means, to keep them in the longrun. As one participant said: After we fought to get the land inheritance of a female memberof the community, she resold the land without realizing the consequences this will have on herfuture.In order to work on that long term vision, the participants have had the opportunity tovisit the Uganda project Rural development and training programme which helps ruralwomen to clearly identify personal goals, what they want to achieve and define with themthe means to implement them, on the basis of a coherent personal strategy.Having realized the issue of sustainability, CBO-YWAP participants grouped aroundincome-generating activities, helping them to develop abilities towards becomingautonomous in the long run. However, it is too early to draw conclusions from thisexperience.In conclusion, participants are unanimous to say that the Route was an extremely positiveexperience, which marked a change in the way they approach their community activities.Indeed, it is clear from the workshop that participants have a better understanding of theirsocioeconomic environment and the main factors that affect women in their access toland. Borrowing the words of one participant: The Route was a real human and intellectualexperience. 10. 10The testimonies express a set of valuable lessons. Among them: Lack of information about land rights among women is identified as a major obstacleto access and own land; Ownership versus Access to land : the participants to the LR realized that it isvery important to insist on the ownership issue since many women living on landsfor years dont have any deed title what makes them vulnerable in case their husbanddies; Promote strategic dialogue: -Sharing information with the community membersis key to empower them and trigger a dynamic of change for gender equality; -Promoting dialogue between civil society and strategic local leaders (legal andreligious) is a good method to promote gender equality (bottom-up); Promote women to positions of influence in local committees is key to assert womensrights and show that women can positively contribute to the entire community; Document actions (lessons learnt, etc.) is a key tool to better share (circulate)information with the community members, local leaders and donors. Enhance planning capacities education in order to reinforce womens economicautonomy; The participants (women) realized during the LR that they can become agent ofpositive change within their community; however, they understood that changes inthe field can take time because changing peoples believes takes times.4. MAIN LEARNINGS FROM THE WORKSHOP5. NEW STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED AFTER THE LEARNING ROUTEApprenticeships have been translated into concrete strategies, such as:Systematize Sharing information with the community members:After the LR, sharing information has become the rule to sensitize the community membersto the land issues. For example, URDT (Uganda) has developed and put in place a one-day LR,titled: Securing Womens Land Rights in Northern Uganda . Besides, The CBO-GAMWIs presidentexplains that since the LR takes advantage of all the opportunities available to speak duringpublic and private meetings whereas before she was greedy with sharing information becauseshe perceived it as a personal advantage without anticipating negative impacts for the rest of thecommunity. This big change in the participants strategy is based on the fact that they have beenconvinced by the LR that the solutions to their land issues will come from inside their community.Promote dialogue with local leadersAfter the LR, the local leaders became one pillar of participants organizations pro-womenstrategy. For example, URDT put in place a discussion plateform called BARAZA structured aroundthe local leaders and the community members. According to URDTs participants, this innovationpromoted transparency and accountability of the local leaders.The LR created awareness about dialogue as a key component to solve out land issues.Institutionalize women participation to local public affairs:The LR highlighted the importance for women to institutionalize their roles in order to increasetheir influence on public decisions. By consequence, some organizations have started lobbyingafter the LR to have women appointed in local committee to assert womens rights. For instance,the CBO-GAMWI (boxes 1 and 4) has in this way succeeded to have two women membersappointed in several local committees. Afterwards, 45 other women from the same CBO havebeen also appointed in different local committees. This new situation has a double advantage:- women appointed will be empowered by doing (speak in public, etc.) and show the otherleaders that women can positively contribute to the community. By consequence, women havebecome more respected because more credible. 11. 11Document activities:According to the participants, documentation was one of the most important learnings duringthe route. Once back home, the participants from Gatundu in Kenya developed their skills basedon a 3-week training, put in place a resource center for the community and created a blog.6. ENABLING FACTORS OF INNOVATIONFrom my discussions with the different participants, 2 main factors have been highlighted as keyto explain the implementation of rural innovations after the LR: The constitutional reform launched after the post-electoral violence in 2008 has been a greatopportunity to promote the implementation of a gender equality land reform. The politicalKenyan situation is currently followed by the International Community, what may have alsohelped to promote womens land rights. The support provided by their organization is as well a key factor explaining the success inthe implementation of the rural innovations presented during the post LR workshop.7. LESSONS LEARNTThe main lessons we can draw from the workshop: The LR is a very good research tool characterized by two advantages: it empowers thecapacities of the participants and involves them in the development of solutions for theirown community; so they are agents of positive changes, increasing in that way their self-esteem. Depending on the type, there are different views about the value of owning a piece ofland: while for men, the earth is more often a source of virility6, women are more a sourceof stability for the family. This may seem logical since the woman is likely to spend mostof his life in the private sphere with family responsibilities. So, it is appropriate to considerthis dimension in campaigns. Social interactions in East African countries are defined by the coexistence of both positiveand customary laws. Voting laws in favor of gender equality without implementing actionsin the field to enforce them is a challenge. For instance, men and women in Uganda andKenya have equal land rights according the national law. However, in practice womenhave not yet an effective control over their lands (choice of the crops) in these twocountries. This shows that education campaigns are key to change unfair social practicesand to effectively enforce progressive laws. Customary laws depend on the power relations in place within a community; thecustomary laws are not atemporal but evolve according to different contingencies. Byconsequence, women have a strong interest in organizing themselves to change thecustomary laws to their favor; Changing laws in favor of women is always a good thing as long as steps are taken sothat they are effectively enforced. According to a study led by Groots-Kenya (2011), manywomen face high difficulties to raise the money necessary to pay for the land register feesin order to get their deed title (an important document to claim their land plot before acourt);6 There is this function macho of land in the fact that men insist that it is the boys who inherit land under customary law. The stories of Jane (Box1) and Phoebe (Box 2) perfectly illustrate this thesis. Of course, this would apply to all men and women. 12. 12 The higher the level of corruption, the more difficult for a grassroots woman to asserther land rights. Women in social and psychological distress are more easily victim ofcorrupted greedy civil servants; There is a clear correlation between documentation and credibility: the more anorganization documents its actions, the higher credibility it has vis--vis the local leadersand donors. Promote full female land ownership may reinforce women participation to local publicaffairs. Land gives in many African societies a dignity and a social status reinforcingthe sense of community belonging. So, land ownership and the use of citizen rights arepositively correlated. The land ownership is not a sufficient condition to the womens economic autonomy.They also need to be empowered to use their land plot in a more strategic way. Since the land question covers various societal issues, meaningful land reforms mustembrace wide public policies from education, justice to the fight against corruption.8. CURRENT CHALLENGES CONTEXTIn some parts of East African regions, the land market has drastically gone up, increasing thecompetition access to land. We can fairly expect that if the situation of women regarding accessto land doesnt improve in the near future, they will be the first victim of the increasing trend ofthe land market.East Africa is particularly affected by the climate change. And one of the most likely climatechange effect is the rarefaction of the most fertile lands. By consequence, its very likely that ahigher competition will take place to access to the most fertile lands still available. And onceagain, the women will probably be the first victims if they are not empowered to face this comingchallenge.9. FIRST TESTIMONY: GATUNDU MWIRUTIRI WOMEN INITIATIVE (GMWI)GROOTS-KENYA, BY HELEN AND JANE NYOKABI KAMIRIOur Organization is called Gatundu Mwirutiri Women Initiative (GMWI). It was formed in l997 bya small group of 24 women as a self-help group called Maria-ini Women Group in Kiamworia sub-location.The aim of the group was to support each other and offering care and support to theneedy, especially orphans and vulnerable children. Later, in 2003, we joined Groots Kenya, a NationalMovement of women after 10 of our members were trained as Trainers of Trainees on Home-BasedCare Services (HBCS) due to the rising HIV pandemic affecting our community. For us, it was a greatoppotunity to offer care and support to those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS . After we followedthis training, we expanded our services to other locations by training caregivers on HBCS. This coversthe period when we were also trained as community health workers on level 1 community strategy.If at the beginning, we were a small group, the number of members grew up since 45 subgroups in 3different districts have been created. in 2007, given the increasing number of members, we have beenallowed to register the organization with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Services in ourdistrict as a Community Based Organization (CBO).BACKGROUND 13. 13Our organization has a Management Structure led by an Executive Committee which is headed by theFocal Point Mrs. Hellen W. Kamiri whose role is to coordinate projects and programs implemented bythe C.B.O. She is also the Program Leader of Women, Land and Property Program and Treasurer of theC.B.O. The Chairperson, Jane Nyokabi Gitau is the Program leader of the Home-Based Care alliancein the district and handles community organizing of the group. We are the two of us members ofthe Community Land and Property Watchdog Groups that guard and monitor women disinheritancerights, and support women in accessing legal justice and acquiring security of tenure; at the sametime we sit in dispute resolution and peace committees. The Executive Committee has 5 members andthe larger regional Steering Committee has 12 members, including the executive committee. They arethe program leaders according to the programs we implement in our communities.Our programs are based on health, leadership and governance; policy advocacy is part of ouractivities to push for gender sensitive policies that address women issues, food security, womenaccess to land and property and livelihoods. Collectively, it is a women empowerment organization.We jointly work with grassroot women caregivers and community health workers, men who supportwomen initiatives, youth caregivers Our target groups are the vulnerable and needy members of thecommunity, i.e. people affected and infected by HIV AIDS , elderly caregivers (grandmothers), widowsand other disinherited women, including vulnerable women farmers. We also target grassroot womencommunity leaders, partners and stakeholders e.g. Government officers and paralegals, etc.When we were conducting research activities with Makerere Institute of Social Research to complimentthe state and work of watchdog groups in Gatundu District by analyzing the law as opposed totraditional practices, we found out that there were other groups/organizations working in the samearea. Thats how we came to partner with Uganda and Kenya Land Alliance (UKLA) Later on, UKLAintroduced us to Procasur, the Organizers of the Learning Route. The Learning Route offered us awider scope and a space where to share with other groups working in the field of women and land.LESSONS OF THE ROUTEDuring the Learning Route, we learned many things, but especially the following ones:1. One thing we learnt from most of the participants, and especially during the visits of the cases inUganda, is that issues of land rights for women were almost similar due to our partriachal societiesThe visit of the case of Kayunga women AHURICA was very positive. During this visit, we discoveredthe principle of the Spousal Consent Clause: A spouse cannot sell family land or other propertieswithout the consent of the other spouse. This was the advocacy of Kayunga women with support ofa Human Rights Organization in their district. Once back in Kenya, we realized that women weresilent on the spousal consent So, we strongly felt that it would be a strong asset to include it inour matrimonial law. It was an initiative that we felt we could replicate because we faced the samechallenges.2. We also realized the importance of information sharing. Indeed, the learning route offered us theopportunity of sharing and learning from other participants on the good practices that they hadespecially on matters of advocacy within and without the community. In the case of Kibaale Districtwomen of URDT, they were well-organized for their advocacy initiatives and their strategies forcreating partnerships.3. The case of the young widows was another lesson to learn from Kenya as very few organizationsever think of young widows whose husbands pass away when they are living in the city and no oneconsider their property back at home, this was an issue we thought of putting into practice since wefelt that the same challenges were facing our young women who were being disinherited while livingin the cities. 14. 144. Kenya and Uganda Land Alliance were in the verge of lobbying their governments for adoption ofnew land reforms which were due for adoption in their state laws. This is where we also learnt thatwe needed these reforms to do away with the traditional practices which were of no value to women.Through the forums that were organized by the two countries land alliances, we realized the rightinstitutions to lobby when it comes to women issues and from there we planned on whom to invitefor partnership.5. The other key lesson was on the issue of documentation. During the LR, we realized that only a fewof us could share their work properly because they had documented it. We took this as a challengesince after many years of work in the community, we had not any documents to share with others.ACTIVITIES POST ROUTEAfter the learning route was over, the most important was to share our experience. That is why, wereported back to Groots-Kenya, our technical support partners and we disseminated information onthe whole learning route process, especially on the innovation plan, what we could not do withouttheir support. We then organized for GAMWI community land and property watchdog members,including watchdog leaders from other regions of our country in the Groots-Kenya movement, severalmeetings to share our experiences and the Innovation Plan. Our colleagues in the organization andwithin Groots-Kenya became interested in the outcomes of the route and the experiences we hadshared. By consequence, they became interested in participating in the implementation and gangingup with the other non-governmental actors to lobby the government for adoption of the reformsin our new Constitution7 . An example is where we called a meeting for 22 leaders includingyouth who after sharing they became the key planners of the implementation plan (they arementioned above because they had come from different regions).Our Innovation Plan was articulated around our dire need ofdocumentation and information sharing which was our weak point.Our main issue was on the method to replicate the model in otherregions. As leaders of the women property program, we could notkeep our records properly and our desire was to be trained on whatwe had mentioned in the I.P. Hence the 7 module training we tookduring 3 weeks with intervals in-between. And it was only after thistraining that we have been able to surf the internet. This training washeld outside our locality.The training has strongly facilitated our capabilities to open a blogpage for our work named Gatundu Community Change (www.gatunducc.blogspot) or www.Gatundu Mwirutiri Women Initiative.The members who benefited from this training were able to trainother WDG members and update the records of the groups by doingproper documentation, record keeping and information sharingwhich has also made the replication of the WDG model easier. Indeed,part of the innovation plan was to replicate the model in two otherregions, what we did. The model replication was articulated aroundtwo main branches: 1) conduct registration drives for the women andtheir children by linking them with the civil registrar whereby the issueof identification is one of the reasons why women are disinherited; 2)The other one was to hold Leaders dialogue meetings within the newregions to highlight the plight of women to the local leaders in order topersuade them to take women issues seriously. Most of the women are those widowed by HIV/AIDSrelated deaths. Before the learning route we used to operate the program in only one region.7 Following the 2008 post-election violence that took part in Kenya, a new Constitution has been written and is currently being implemented.The chairperson showingother WDG membershow to surf the Internet 15. 15OUTCOMES OF THE INNOVATION PLAN IMPLEMENTATIONOther changes which have resulted from the implementation of the I.P. are as follows:1. All our groups in the movement have trained members to document since the two of us includinganother member of our group, Mr. Edward Macharia, have been training other members in otherregions on the skills we learned, especially record keeping, documentation and report writing. Thetwo of us also attended a rally organized by the Kenya Land Alliance during which we were pushingthe government to adopt the new Land Policy promoting womens land rights and another of ourmembers was supported by the Kenya land alliance o attend a meeting in Dar es salaam, in Tanzania,to learn what women in Tanzania are doing to advocate for gender equality. All this was after thelearning route we took part in.2. At the beginning, we did not know how to manage an Information Resource Centre but we nowhave a few books and the container (offered by the county) will be soon modified to become a YouthResource Center. In that way, the community will be able to have access to information as well asaccessing to internet.3. The other innovation is the data bank for our members, data collection and banking for all thewatchdog groups and cash registers.4. Facilitation skills are another skill that we did not have but after being trained we have been ableto facilitate meetings and other forums in the community. This is why we have been able to replicatethe model in other regions. We have also been able to use the right tools and records for our work andrecord keeping has become better than before and can access information easily.5. We learnt on group dynamics (leadership, management and membership) and this has improvedand enhanced the leadership and governance of our groups. From that perspective, this has reinforcedthe sustainability of our groups. Other consequence: our groups can now manage their own activitiesand initiate group support activities that even generate incomes.6. Members can now access I.T. since the literate ones are empowered to the point of seeking thisknowledge by themselves. We can now browse the Internet and we have a computer for our officeand a laptop. In that way, our reporting and documentation have become much easier. Other result:sending messages via Internet allow us not to travel to Nairobi like we used to do. So we save a lot ofmoney!7. We have strengthened our partnerships by bringing on board new partners especially the UNWOMEN, Stephen Lewis Foundation and NCCK who have really added value to our work and at thesame time collaborating with government institutions which we did not have before especially theDepartment of Gender, Culture and Social services.8. We have been involved in global networks and advocacy like partnering with UNWOMEN, anaffiliate of the U.N. Jane attended an international Conference in Delhi India the Safer Cities for womenand Girls in order to present what our work to create safe spaces for women and girls while fightingdisplacements and violence against women with the support of Huairou Commission. Promotinggender equality and women empowerment is our main goal. Hence our slogan is women can makeit to the top but they need to be offered the opportunity to do so. This opportunity has been offeredby our new Constitution and we are busy sensitizing women to vie for political leadership at the sametime asking men to support women. That is why the Men for Women Initiative Group has been formed.9. More than 45 women in our organization are involved in different forums of decision making andseveral others in the grassroot level committees of decision making. Many have also been empoweredto present themselves in government offices something they could not do before. 16. 16THE OTHER CHANGES THAT EMERGED OF THE INNOVATION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION1. More women have been supported in accessing to legal justice and repossessing their property indifferent parts of our district and neighboring districts.2. The awareness campaign created by the watchdogs as a result of the implementation of innovationshas minimized cases of disinheritance. We have not recorded a case for the last 4 months and the lastone we had was in Kiamwangi: a lady in the support group of people living with HIV/AIDS was builta house by the local WDG in the area after negotiating with her parents who did not want to give herany inheritance together with her sister and the two are not married. She is now settled.3. Members in the organization have been carrying out Civic Education actions to sensitize the womenand the community at large on women gains in the new constitution and discussing much about thenew land reforms and other reforms that affect or impact women positively.4. A lot of transformations have taken place in the community leadership and governance. Indeed,State Officers have changed their style of governance e.g. chiefs who used to be very corrupt but arenow delivering their service to the community freely and with a lot commitment and taking womenissues seriously especially on succession issues.5. It was out of the learning during the route and innovation plan that we have been able to strengthenour work.6. Creation of a Gender Desk at the chiefs office which is manned by members of the WDG at least 2or 3 times a week.FACTORS THAT HAVE FACILITATED THE RESULTSThe most important factors to achieve results were1. Institutional where due to our weaknesses we felt we could not offer quality service unless ourinstitutional capacity was strengthened and this is where after implementation of the innovationplan, we fundraised to have our own office since we had operated from a rented place. We had tolobby the local county council for space where we constructed our office and we have a container. Weare now sourcing for some funds to construct a temporary meeting place.2. Social factor was the 2nd to achieve results since we are advocating for women to achieve socialrights and to achieve gender equality and for the cause of women and socially, there has been greatimpact on this as we have explained there above on results.The other one is the political factor which we found that for years our movement has never beeninvolved in the political factors and this time we have come out to try and sensitize women into vyingfor political leadership where our constitution allows that not more than 2/3 of any forum will be ofthe same gender and as women we want to achieve this number and this is why we are conductingcivic education forums all over to create awareness and empower women.CHALLENGES1. Lack of resources and inconsistency by duty bearers and follow up of test cases. It is challenging forcases in the appeal court because one of the factors causing disinheritance is lack of money to followup legal processes.2. Over dependency by beneficiaries. 17. 17FUTURE PLANSFrom this year hence forth we want to concentrate more on sensitizing women in the land reforms andthe new marriage bill. We feel that if women know their rights fully and exercise them very few womenwill face displacements and forced evictions and our focus will now be in mobilizing and empoweringwomen especially widows and single women/mothers in owning and controlling land by collectivelypurchasing and subdividing land among themselves and they will be able to own proper housing forthemselves. Rural women will be able to own land and houses in the urban areas and this will only beachieved if women can form a co-operative which if well managed will support them in achieving this.We think there will be few or no cases of disinheritance in our communities in the next two years andabout 50% or more of women will own title deeds and our focus now will be to educate women on howto change their attitudes towards change and transformation and be very committed in grasping thechange.10. TESTIMONY FROM AN ORGANIZATION OF YOUNG WIDOWSBACKGROUNDYoung Widows Advancement Programme is a Community-based organization located in Embakasiconstituency in Nairobi Kenya. It exists to advance the property and inheritance rights of youngwidows and orphans. It is a membership organization. It was started informally a decade ago byfive widows whose spouses had died. All the five widows had lost their matrimonial homesdue to disagreement with the in-laws and all had tested HIV positive. Because of HIV /AIDS related stigma they met quietly to support each other through sharing experiences and organizinga Merrygo round (members contribute a certain amount of money e.g. 200ksh. It is given to one ofthe members, they do this weekly until all the members have received a turn) to help support eachother to pay rent and make ends meet. In November 2003, the group was registered by the Ministryof Social Services Gender and Sports as a Community based self-help organization under the nameYoung Widows Advancement Program.Two members of YWAP, I Susan Maina and Phoebe Saga, had the opportunity of participating inthe Learning Route 2010. We had the chance to share our experiences with others and learn so muchabout what influences women access to land.My motivation to participate in the Leaning Route was borne out of my desire to find out what widowsin other parts of the world went through. Did they face widow inheritance problems like KenyasWestern tribes? Do they have in place working legal frame that works to protect the widows from losingtheir land and property? What can we do differently to ease all the problems that widows in Kayole gothrough? What can I do differently to assist more women to access land and other properties? Whatcan the young widows organization do diffrently to assist more women to access land.LEARNING ROUTEThe Learning Route was held from the 8th to 16 March, 2010, and the team leaders were verysupportive, the participants list included people from other countries and I couldnt wait to dig intotheir diverse knowledge and culture.I remember during the opening presentation, two of the team leaders, Ariel and Sabine Pallas, taughtus a poem, Souma Yergon, Sou Nou yergon, we are shaking the tree . I still remember a line changingyour ways, changing those around you I was determined to do exactly that especially with everycase study that we visited. 18. 18In Kibaale, in Uganda, the women aspirations over land and land matters were affected by factorssuch as marital status, literacy level and financial instability. It was interesting to listen especiallyone narrative where a woman said she had never seen a title deed before the project was introducedto them. It was evident that women in Kibaale consider land as a male concern. This situation wasidentical to some of the widow cases in Kayole.I also note that their stakeholders included churches and cult leaders. Networking with the churcheshas proved to be very effective for us.In Kenya, we visited Groots Kenya, Gatundu Mwirutiri Women Group; here I experienced firsthandhow an empowered community can unite against injustice, poverty and women violations. TheWatchdog Groups have facilitated local models that allow womens access and control to land, notonly protecting against land rights violation but also empowering the community through awarenesscreation. These are identical to our paralegals who are the whistle blowers in the community toprevent cases of widow dis inheritance.HIV positive women especially widows are thrown out of their matrimonial homes and their landgrabbed .They are blamed for their husbands death and they are even considered to be dieing soon.The children of the deceased face the same and we visited a homestead where a house was put up bythe area Watch dog groups to assist a young boy and his sister who had been orphaned and were atthe risk of losing the coffee farm to their uncles.The Malawi women projects and programs were also very educative especially they involved men tomake the women projects more effective.All the lessons learnt during the learning route have been quite help full both inside and outsidethe organization. Young Widows Organization argued that inheritance of young widows in Kenyain certain communities is a form of contemporary slavery. This is because inheritance entails sexualrelations with a relative of a deceased husband as a form of cultural cleansing. This inheritor comesin to offer security but sucks up all that the man left for the family. And this Leaves the widow in aworse situation.So Far:Cases of property grabbing including land, and disinheritance of the widows and organs is rampant.That is why the organization undertook a project to increase the number of widows gaining access toproperty including land grabbed from them through legal redress, local legal systems and informalarbitration. Through this process the widows disinherited on the basis of failure to obey cultures ofwidow inheritance can challenge or confront the practices.Young Widows Advancement Programme. as an organization to strives to improve the impact ofits work in promoting sexual and property inheritance rights for young widows and orphans inEmbakasi Division by training the staffs, 30 volunteers and board members on advocacy strategies.ACTIVIDADES POST ROUTEDuring the Learning Route analysis our organization was seen to need more capacity building andthe community needed more awareness on the plight of widows.This was possible with the help from the United Nations voluntary trust fund. The UN Women Funds.YWAP successfully assisted 6 women to reclaim back their land from the in-laws.The widows involved were: KerinAtieno, Rosemary Owino, Pamela Atong, Millicent Atieno, FaithAwour, Lillian Wanjiru. 19. 19 Kerina had followed up on her late husbands title deed for a long time and with our assistanceshe finally got the title deed in her own name. The joy she was radiating as she came to theoffices to show it to us made everything even more worthwhile. Millicent got two pieces of land from the in-laws after negotiations which involved the areachief, one to build a house on, and another one for farming, Rosemary was shocked to discover that the land that the in-laws had always called theirfathers land actually was registered in her late husbands name. She discovered this during aland search at the Ministry of Land offices in Rachuonyo. The in-laws even now agreed to giveher rightful share. The other three needed the assistance of the legal officer and their cases are still going on.YWAP has held 8 sensitization workshops around Embakasi constituency namely in Njiru, Dandora,Mukuru slums, Kayole and Soweto slums. This was to enlighten the community on the widowsinheritance rights and the effects of denying them this right.YWAP is now under pressure to expand/ extend these services to the rural areas where burial happenand where ancestral lands are. Reaching out to the rural community would be more effective inreducing land grabbing from widows just like we saw in Kibaale in Uganda.In Kenya the Succession act of 1981 stipulates that women may inherit property as dependants of thedeceased. There is simultaneous application of customary, religion and religious laws which lead toconfusion as regards family custody and maintenance of children. Socio-cultural norms in the diversecommunities of Kenya prohibit a uniform kind of inheritance where such property is land house andanimals.CHANGESChanges that have resulted from the implementation:. An issue that we noted as a result of the learning route was the inability of the widows to befinancially stable so to carry out activities on lands that can generate incomes for those who haveaccess to land and those without land to purchase land. Widows lack finance to exploit land. Thisis why YWAP encourages women to involve themselves in income generating activities. YWAP hasstarted a scheme where 12 women contribute money every week for purpose of buying land. YWAP isseeking funding sources to advance credit to these or match their savings as banks have conditionsand interests too high for widows while YWAP will assist these widows to identify lands and pursue thelegalities of land purchase.YWAP has a pro bono lawyer working part-time to assist in following up some of the widows cases.Since the LR, YWAP works more closely with the local authority and even attends the (barazas) chiefsmeetings to talk to the public about widow inheritance rights.FACTORS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT TO ACHIEVE THE RESULTS1. The institutional changes have been very important. The capacity building of the staffs andvolunteers have brought about better productivity in terms of referrals, networking, advocacy, teambuilding. This has meant greater understanding and awareness of women especially those infectedand affected by HIV /aids of their property inheritance rights. More widows and their children can nowlay claim to family estate including land and access legal redress while challenging the customs andgreedy in-laws.Above this YWAP has noted an increased knowledge and improved attitudes among the women andgirls about their human property and inheritance rights in Embakasi. 20. 20This also means reduced incidences of property grabbing, dispossession and disinheritance of youngwidows.2. Financially the organization depend 80% on donor funds and so far2011 2012 activities werefunded by the UN women fund. This worked to strengthen the managerial skills of the staffs evenwhen funds are low.3. Politically we have greater involvement of local leaders in preventing property grabbing from youngwidows. This is also as a result of increased involvement of community members in Embakasi Districtin participating in the protection of the widows property rights.I am thankful to Procasurs team, the organizers and the sponsors of the Learning Route as what Ilearnt will go along way into changing those around me and with me. I also thank our organizationcoordinator; she was much involved in the Learning Route coordination. For all the moral support thatshe readily gives to us (members and staffs), to make us better and improve the organization. Youngwidows offices were the final visiting destination (case) in the route. YWAP is open to new progressiveideas. To me we are shaking the tree sharing a lot of useful information, advice, and sharing ourknowledge with YWAP members and staffs. Those around us are sure deemed to change for the better.We hope Procasur can involve more of our members in this sort of exchange program (learning route)The learning route is an experience that I share with my friends, client widows and family membersand I would not hesitate to participate in another learning route.11. THIRD TESTIMONY: LEARNING ROUTE ACHIEVEMENTS, UGANDA-KENYA:THE CASE OF MALAGASY TEAM BY MINO RAMAROSONSIF (Solidarit sur le des Intervenants Foncier) is the national civil society Platform that deals with landissues. It has over 25 members organizations, especially NGOs, and also organizations representingfarmers. SIF conducted the implementation of an action-research project on womens access to land.In this context, three members, FVTM (Fdration Nationale des Femmes Rural Malagasy)7, SOAnetwork (Agriculteurs Syndicat National des)8 and HARDI NGO have signed an agreement with apublic research centre called FOFIFA (Foibe Fikarohana Ampiharina Aminny Fampandrosoana ny enyAmbanivohitra)9. This project has allowed platform members to realize how important is to integratethe gender dimension to promote womens access to land. Particularly, considering the propertyreform that is being implemented in the country.SIF members that are interested in gender and land issues do not have a solid background on thesetopics. In order to improve their approach to women rights in land tenure, the platform proposed theparticipation of the action-research team members in the Learning Route (LR). The first objective ofthe Platform and its members is to learn and see how rural women in other African countries faceaccess to land issues and what solutions have been successfully implemented to solve them. With theknowledge and experience learned from the LR, the second objective was to propose solutions to theplatform members that were facing similar land issues, after the introduction of the gender dimensionin their activities related to land.7 National Federation of Malagasy Rural Women8 National Farmers Union9 National Research Centre on Rural Development 21. 21Two of the member organizations above, sent representatives to participate in the Route. A farmerand a technician to support her: The FVTM representative was the General Secretary, Mrs Lilia Ravoniarisoa. This Federationhas about 7000 members in 19 of the 22 regions of the island. FVTM does not have a steeringgroup, so their activities are carried out directly by its members. The HARDI NGO representative was the executive director Miss Mino Ramaroson. This is anorganization that works in development, in four areas of action: schooling and social inclusionof children in disadvantage conditions, micro-credit, support for micro-enterprises creation inrural areas, and land issue.The action-research project teams participation in the Learning Route was generated by their lackof knowledge on land and gender topics that are relevant to this project. Indeed, the project hasencouraged their female participants to raise their needs related to land access, such as obtaining aland title (in a context where they have no access to steady income) or their need for empowerment inthis topic. However, the team has often expressed shortcomings meeting these requirements. The ideaof participating in the Route has been, above all, to visit the sister initiatives to draw lessons that canbe applied in the Malagasy context.THE LEARNING ROUTE:During the Route, three types of activities have been performed:Presentations Workshops and Feedback Presentation of agencies participating in the Route. Feedback workshops and comments after field visits. Workshop on Innovation Plan.Meetings with national agents linked to land tenure in the two countries: Presentation workshop of CALI project (that includes Ugandas government and civil society indeveloping a draft of the national land policy). Presentation workshop of activities of the Kenyan national platform and some of its memberson specific issues: gender and land, rural women training, the case of displaced camps (IDP)that arose after the post-election violence.Field Visits URDT (University of Rural Development and Training): visit to a community at Kibaale district,SWAL10 beneficiary. The action-research project has led to the development of its vision, whichresulted in the establishment of women cooperatives (SACCO11). These women make loansbetween them by mobilizing their own resources. Their objective is to acquire property titles inorder to ensure their access to land. AHURICA (Association on Human Rights and Civic Awareness) / FHRI (Foundation for HumanRights Initiatives): Visit to a community in Kayunga district, SWAL beneficiary. Association stillembryonic, with little support from the organizations that have written action-research project;lack of clarity about their results and activities, especially regarding the defence and awarenessof the consent clause for the sale of land belonging to the couple. IDP Network (Internal Displaced Persons): Visit to two refugee camps, which arose due to post-electionviolence of 2008. SWAL beneficiary, Gatungu district. Involvement of multiple stakeholders in the district: its leader,the elderly, women Watch Dog Group (WDG) and the head of land services. WDG Women play animportant role in the communities of this district.10 SWAL: Securing Womens Access to Land11 SACCO: Saving and Credit Cooperatives 22. 22LESSONS OF THE ROUTEThis route has enabled the Malagasy team to draw the following lessons: Personal Visioning is a method used by URDT for women awareness about their rights and,above all, their land rights12. The Watch Dog Group model to start a behaviour change dynamic of the community in termsof access and rights of women to land13. Impact of HIV-AIDS on communities and especially on women: the state of widow can lead towomen and children to be expelled from the community because of the illness stigma and theland pressure. The success of a project requires a deeper involvement of community members, for example,as volunteers. Importance of working closely with local authorities (on going dialogues, meetings, continuingconsultations...), especially for conflict resolution to enhance the implementation and genderpromotion at the community level. Effective awareness methods: Discussion forums on issues that concern community members. This allows to learn thenational gender problems about gender and land, and to achieve a spread effect (oil slick).Approach local authorities that are respected within the community: churches, associations,local offices It is necessary to support grassroots organizations in various topics to improve their vision:organizational issues such as accountability and organization, technical support in usefulissues. Importance of partnership in carrying out the activities.ACTIVITIES POST ROUTESThis route allowed the team to conceive a project proposing innovative activities drawn from theexperiences of the organizations and women visited. The team was particularly interested in theinitiatives proposed by URDT and GAMWI, as they may allow progress in permanent and inexpensivesolutions for rural Malagasy women.The project has been accepted by ILC and this has allowed us to open a pilot experience, knowing thatexistence of a specific case study that shows our purposes may help in the exchange of experiences. Inthis framework, we have made in two areas of the country the following activities: Personal visioning workshops with the participation female leaders in their communities. Contacts and continuous dialogue between the administrative authorities and traditional(local) on the land subject and women position. Sensitization to set up support groups within local communities, taking in account theirexpectations and needs. Training workshops on issues that concerned women (simplified management, simplifiedland legal framework, process of land security access, how to write a project...) Registration secures settlers land tenure. Support women to obtain recognition of their rightsto the land they occupy. YWAP (Young Widow Advanced Program): Visit to Kayole, Nairobi slum, SWAL beneficiary. Thisvisit allowed us to understand the situation of young widows (impact of HIV-AIDS) and theactions taken by the organization to alleviate the problems of these women.12 A methodological sheet on this subject, may be provided on demand.13 A methodological sheet on this subject, may be provided on demand. 23. 23 Awareness of the existence of a land agency at the community level, that makes easier theaccess to land tenure documents.The implementation of these activities has established a strong base to exchange information. Thepilot has been shared with the SIF Platform and some of its members that are interested in genderand land topics. The problem for this collaboration has been the members misunderstanding ofthe gender concept and what is involved in integrating it. An evidence of this is that most membersconsider that Malagasy women have no problems of land access. As a consequence, they haverequested the project team to give a session focused on information and training on gender issues.This will provide a basis to continue sharing experiences with SIF members and offer them the toolscreated during the implementation of the pilot project.Similarly, the Platform members have not yet adopted the idea of integrating gender into landactivities, delaying the behavioural change required to progress in this issue. Towards the end of lastyear, SIF created a group to discuss the vision and future action plan for the organization, without aclear discussion about gender issues. The problem lies in the fact that members have conflicting viewson this point, so we need to identify how to reach consensus. The aim is to change the community visionregarding women position and their land rights, which must begin within the Platform members.In the entities that have participated in the Learning Route and pilot project implementation (FVTMand HARDI NGO), FTVM has integrated the personal visioning approach and training modules onland tenure in their training and awareness tools. Moreover, the FTVM undertakes the formationof groups, using the Watch Dog Group as a reference, in the member organizations. Particularly,the FVTM have used and implemented these tools developed for the womens leadership trainingprogramme, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and IFAD. HARDIs team has been lesssensitive to this initiative.Instead, FVTM team has progressed with partnerships actions out of the Platform and its members.Indeed, outside its field experiences, the team has approached the SAHA program (funded by the SwissInter-cooperation) to share the results of the pilot actions, through the exchange meetings with thegender team of the program. SAHA has requested the establishment ways of cooperation to allowsupported producers associations to benefit from this approach that was considered interesting bythe gender team of the program. This collaboration will result in training workshops and follow-upsessions, directly at the grassroots associations level.The development of this pilot project has allowed us to see how is the best way to adapt the lessonslearned during the Route to the Malagasy context. The team has decided to write a larger project toserve more members of the FVTM. Moreover, the methods used have been internalized at the FTVMlevel, especially the personal visioning principle when implementing women promotion activities.Also FVTM is now thinking the best way to adapt this SACCO model at their members level, so they cancount on the means to increase their members income at each grassroot organization. 24. 24Resty Namubiru :I came to realize that the challenge of womens access to land and ownership is a global issue butmostly affecting the welfare of women in developing countries. This is one of the contributingfactors why many women remain disadvantaged and financially unstable. This is because they lackownership on land yet land is a major factor of production. After noting this from my experience in thelearning route, I decided to at least start awareness creation amongst some women as I was doing mycommunity work; I used to stress issues of women rights on land.During the Learning Route, I discovered the Young Widows Advancement Programme in Kenya thathelp women with challenges of land and family matters like helping widows who have lost propertyto fill forms required to start claiming for their property. Likewise at some point in 2011 I got a chanceto work in the URDT land rights office, I used the knowledge I got from the learning route plus what Iread in books of law to advise people who had land challenges on how to overcome them especiallywomen. For example I helped one community member on how to write a will, advised others on howto safe guard their land by planting land boundary markings for systematic land demarcation andsafe guarding it from being grabbed by members of their late husbands family.Furthermore, I mobilized the local community where I was working and enabled them demand for theirrights through a platform called baraza/ open forum. Through this arrangement, men and womenput their leaders to task to explain important concerns that actually ranged from social, economic,political and even issues of rights. This arrangement enhanced transparency and accountability and itwas such learning for many women and men who attended it. Issues of women rights were brought tolight and many women came to appreciate some of the information that they actually did not know.Land rights questions and issues were enlightened by the land rights officers at Sub-county level.The Visionary Approach was shared by the groups met in Kibaale District of Uganda, I believe its agood approach to human development. In practice and in my daily life, I learnt how to apply it and ithas helped me a lot by guiding my actions until I reach what I want.Because of the learning route I personally made friends who have turned out to be very useful in my lifein terms of sharing advice, experience, challenges and development concerns.Personally I managed to buy a small piece of land with my husband but importantly to note is whenit came to writing the land agreement I persuaded him and he agreed to be written in the names ofboth us as buyers and signed.12: FOURTH TESTIMONY: SHARING EXPERIENCES FROM POST LEARNINGROUTE ENGAGEMENT BY JACQUELINE AKELLO AND NAMUBIRU RESTYACTORSNamubiru Resty is a graduate of African Rural University currently an Epi-Center manager atUganda Rural Development and Training Programme.Jacqueline Akello is University Secretary and African Rural University and formerly DirectorProgrammes at the time the Learning Route took place in 2010. This story is jointly prepared bythe two people to give individual learning and Institutional learning based on our experience ofthe Learning Route Organised by Procasur in 2010. 25. 25Out of the learning route information, I developed a concept note with an inspiration to help fellowwomen especially those whose rights on land are affected. I have tried to share it with a few womenwith whom we do similar work of rural transformation but I havent identified a donor for support yet.Jacqueline Akello :I partially participated in the learning route. I was greatly privileged and honored to learn how thelearning Route works. The level of preparation involved, especially as demonstrated by Fred Lugandaand Ariel of Procassur. When I attended the capacity building workshop in Kampala and subsequentlyparticipated in preparing the rural women participants to share and teach other women theirexperiences, it opened a creative spark in me. We were getting to the conclusion of a participatoryAction Research on Voicing Womens Aspirations on Land and Land Matters. The research wasfinanced by International Land Coalition (ILC) Small Grants Programme.Yes we had documented the aspirations, what could be done at individual and collective levels torealize these aspirations. There was a big challenge on institutional in-roads to enabling women inrural Kibaale to attain their aspirations on land rights and land matters. I reflected on what next. TheLearning Route created an answer to the question I had had for quite some time. How can we supportrural women to be the lead agents to advocate for their land rights? After they have articulated theirvisions, assessed their current situations developed action plans to bridge the gap between theiraspirations, developed individual and group level action plans, how were we to continue supportingthem now that the funding was getting over? I take it as a personal challenge to support women thatare disadvantaged through my institution by designing, testing out what works and sharing it widerwith others. That way we collectively plant the seeds of empowering women to secure their land rightsand subsequently build come economically less vulnerable.Fortunately when Reste Namubiru and Ednansi travelled to Kenya and Kayunga District of Ugandashared their lessons and Innovation Plan, I realized we could actually organize a min-learning route.URDT Innovation Plan was supported with funding from ILC and the activities implemented. In ourmini-learning route, the rural women participants gained lessons from Central Uganda in LuweroDistrict. They realized that women could further attain their aspirations if they were economicallyempowered, which was a possibility through organized agricultural cooperatives, linking farmers tomarkets.Three things emerged institutionally:1. We were given opportunity to pilot the same processes (LR) we had gone through in workingwith rural women articulate their aspirations on land rights in a project titled SecuringWomens Land rights in Northern Uganda. This gave a new twist to our learning particularlyif we were to create the empowerment of rural women to secure their land rights in complexsituations of post war land related conflict in customary land ownership regimes. I cannotsay for sure that this pilot was a success as it is ongoing. More so it has an institutionaldevelopment aspect to it, building the capacity of a local organization to replicate what wemanaged to do in Kibaale (for the LR). However, the rural women in the pilot programme havebeen facilitators in the process (local women are active participants). In the second phase ofthe pilot, they were to also have a learning route so that the women from these diverse culturalsettings learn from each other.2. Another factor that the participating rural women facilitators in the learning route pointedout was lack of education and ignorance of land laws in Uganda. This fact has taken us ona journey of research to understand the knowledge levels of land rights amongst secondaryschool going children in Kibaale. The findings were a serious reflection of the womensconcerns. An excerpt of the baseline findings reads: 26. 26a. The education policy land education is not among the key programmes. The onlyprograms that offer functional literacy on land are only given by Non-Governmental actorswhich are limited in scope and depend on donor funding and are not sustainable. The policyrecommends that government should make concerted effort to implement land rightseducation to the population for development.b. Several international instruments provide for rights to property and among them is theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Convention on the Elimination of allForms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platformof Action which recognizes the legal and customary barriers to womens ownership of andaccess to land. It called on nations to embark on legislative and administrative reforms togive women equal rights with men to economic resources including rights to ownership andcontrol of land. At the national level, this encourages sensitization on human rights includingrights to land. Key findings from primary sourcesa. Knowledge land rightsi. 75% of students understood land rights to mean buying, inheriting andowning land.ii. 98% of Students knew how family land was acquired.iii. Students participated in land management by tilling the land but were rarely consulted inmajor decisions such as selling and buying.iv. Denial of land rights affects development and leads to increased poverty at family level aswell as national level. The women cannot be very productive on land which they are not secureon and therefore do not benefit from government programmes like NAADS.b. Knowledge of laws and policies on land rightsi. All teachers interviewed knew about the 1995 Constitution of the republic of Uganda withonly 12.5% of the male being aware of the provision on the right on land. All the femaleteachers did not know about this provision and no school had a copy of the constitution.ii. 100% of the teachers did not know that the Land Act provides for protection of family landand provides that no single spouse can sell, mortgage, transfer or do anything that affect theland where the family resides and derives sustenance without the written consent of the otherspouse.c. The current strategies for promoting land rights education in secondary schools include:I. Inclusion of land rights in Secondary School Subjects by UNEB - Efforts have been made toteach some aspects of land under Commerce and agriculture but land rights are not covered.II. Teaching syllabus for Farm schools - In this syllabus soil and its management is the onlycomponent on land however the Principals of these schools have requested NCDC to developa curriculum that is Ugandan.III. Up coming Entrepreneurship Programme in secondary schools - This new Entrepreneurshipprogramme for secondary schools does not include land rights. Knowledge on ownership,control and land tenure systems is necessary for any permanent or long term investment.On consultation with the National Curriculum Development Centre, they have welcomed proposalsfor possible inclusion in the ongoing Secondary Schools Curriculum review.The above are two of the many examples of success from the learning. 27. 27ENABLING FACTORS:The reasons for the success are;1. URDT as an institution at the time was receptive to staff creativity.2. Cooperative local government institutions such as the Education Department and office of theDistrict Speakers3. Collaborative networks especially in the then Rural Development Institute turned Landesato pilot the Kibaale Success in Northern Uganda and Charity for Rural Development, a localcommunity based organization.4. The organization Volunteer Efforts for Development Concern (VEDCO) in central Uganda wasvery receptive to our rural women to share lessons and interact with other people that theyhad worked with in aspects of livelihood and linking farmers to markets.At the personal level, I successfully set my aspiration to procure land and with my savings and supportof my father procured land where I have planted trees. Although they have been affected by drought,the fact that I succeeded to enlist my fathers support of this aspiration was a turning point, since hewas a strong believer in boys having more right to land than girls.In conclusion, Reste and I have managed to work as effective agents of change at personal, family andthe wider communities. Our institutional dispositions have enabled us to impact on many womenslives in talking about, negotiating with their spouses, clans and institutions regarding their landrights. A new chapter in the developments within Kibaale District where previously men were the keynegotiators on land matters. They now consult with women.A typical example is the story of Christine, in Atiak sub-country Amuru District. The first time Iinteracted with her through a visit organized by Charity for Rural Development a Community Basedorganization, she was devasted. As a single mother returning from Internally Displace Camps inNorthern Uganda, she did not have a specific place where to go. However as custom demands, shehad to return to her maternal roots. Land in Acholi belongs to the community and governed using ahierarchy of clan leaders who are all men. A single woman who returns home can be given some landto use for herself and children. She cannot build any permanent structure. However the land given isdependent on the goodwill of a given elder in one homestead (comprises of several homesteads witha common grandfather).In Christines case, her mother had also returned to her maternal roots since her husband had died inthe course of the war. Christine, through it was her right to live with her biological mother. After threemonths, her own mother burnt up the little grass thatched shelter and demanded Christine finds herown place. This is because the land that she had been given would not be sufficient to produce enoughfood for her and Christines five children.When I met Christine, she was living with well wishers. On discussing various options, she took courageto have a conversation with the clan leader. The clan leader allocated to her and the children 3 acres ofland. Christine joined a saving group. She allocated one acre of land so that she could produce crops(sesame) sell and start savings to buy her own piece of land. Initially she did not know that womenhad rights to land. Christine is not alone; several women served by Chaford have similar stories. Theystrongly believe there is hope after having two sessions of training on how to have a personal vision,analyze a situation and develop strategies on how to achieve ones vision.Another scenario is that of Agnes (not real name) on our initial contact, she said it was improper forwomen to discuss land matters. Having gone through our training and mentoring, she participatedin the Learning Route at the community level. Subsequently she was trained with others incommunication skills. Agnes eventually became ambassador for other women in Kinaale in theNational Womens land Movement Conference held in Kampala. 28. 28Asia and the Pacific99/1 Koolpunt Ville 9Chiang Mai Hang Dong Road.T.Ban Waen A. Hang DongChiang Mai 50230, TailandiaPhone: +665 3336599Mobile: +668 32083728asia.procasur.orgLatin AmericaHeriberto Covarrubias 21Of. 705, uoaSantiago de ChilePhone: +562 3416367www.procasur.orgfricaShelter Afrique Building2nd Floor (Right wing)P.O. Box 25965 - 00100Mamlaka Road, off Nyerere RoadNairobi, KenyaPhone:+254 706046742africa.procasur.org